The present invention generally relates to reusable spools and more particularly to collapsible spools for winding, storing, and unwinding cable, rope, wire, line and the like.
Generally, cable products such as electrical wire, telephone lines, television cable, rope, optical fibers, tubing, etc. are stored, transported and used on large wooden or plastic spools. Once empty, the spools must be disposed of or returned for reuse. Currently, disposal is not considered an environmentally viable option in view of the wood or other materials that are needed to make the spools. Further, the manufacture of these spools can be costly and consequently, their disposal is not economically advantageous.
On the other hand, the transportation of these spools for reuse presents other problems. For instance, cable spools take up a considerable amount of space which imposes a limitation on the number of spools which can be loaded on a truck or rail car. As such, the transportation of empty cable spools can represent a significant cost. Ultimately, these costs are added to the costs of the cable product.
These disadvantages have been recognized in the past prompting many attempts to create a spool or reel that is reusable and which disassembles or can be reduced in size when empty. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,606 to Brown, a collapsible cable spool is disclosed. The spool includes radially fluted flanges and a plurality of foldable drum or core sectors pivotally carried in the flutes to permit the spools to be collapsed for storage and shipment. The foldable drum or core sectors include a pair of equal length bar like segments which are pivotally connected at one end and have their opposed end pivotally mounted within the flute. As a means to limit the pivotal movement of the segments, each inner end of the segment has a notch which abuts against a clip to act as a stop or lock to act against further pivoting in the direction of the open position.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,742,584 to Daubmeyer, et al., a collapsible metallic reel is described having two circular side members attached together by a plurality of sections. Each section consists of two parts hingedly united and also hingedly connected to the two side plates. The sections can further include a tongue on one or each of the parts which will engage the respected companion part when the section is fully extended to prevent a bending of the joint inwardly past the horizontal.
A folding reel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,559,133 to Tunis, et al. The folding reel in Tunis, et al. includes two counterpart heads with a four part shank therebetween. The four part shank includes four slats supported by hinges on plates secured to the heads. The hinges are arranged such that the heads may be folded in one direction only. In order to lock the device in an erect position a brace or arm extends diagonally between the heads.
Other similar reel devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,341 to Eifrid, U.S. Pat. No. 2,463,192 to Mackey, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 2,010,811 to Craig.
Although the prior art discloses various attempts to make a reusable reel or spool that can be disassembled or reduced in size for storage and transportation, the prior art still has many deficiencies and draw backs. For instance, many of the collapsible spools are too complicated and too expensive to manufacture. Other spools or reels have not proven to be strong enough to withstand the loads of many cable products when reeled onto the device. Still other prior art constructions remain bulky and difficult to handle even when collapsed or disassembled.